It’s not just domestic pets who have to suffer the effects of fireworks, as is pointed out in a press release from the Centre for Wild Animal Welfare.
Millions of wild animals face trauma unless ministers toughen firework noise cuts, experts say
- Experts warn that millions of wild animals – including foxes, badgers, deer and birds – will be terrified by loud fireworks on Bonfire Night, alongside our cats, dogs and horses
- They warn that the UK government’s proposed 110-decibel cap on fireworks noise doesn’t go far enough, and are demanding a 90-decibel limit
- Ministers want to cut the limit from the volume of a chainsaw (120dB) to a rock concert (110dB) – but experts say capping it at the volume of a passing motorcycle (90dB) would shrink the ‘terror zone’ of each firework by 99.9%
As Bonfire Night approaches, animal welfare experts are calling on the government to protect millions of wild animals by backing a steeper cut to maximum noise levels from fireworks.
The UK government recently consulted on proposals to lower the maximum noise level of fireworks sold to the public in shops from 120 to 110 decibels.
As ministers finalise their position, the Centre for Wild Animal Welfare is urging them to back a deeper cut to maximum noise levels, which would shrink the area disturbed by each firework a hundred times further than the government’s proposal.
Stronger action would be overwhelmingly popular with the public. Government polling has found that, when people were asked what they disliked about fireworks noise, 91% cited the effects on animals – the single most frequently cited concern.
TERROR IN THE DARK
While most people are familiar with the distress that fireworks can cause for dogs, cats, and horses, the impact on wild animals is rarely discussed, despite its vast scale:
- Mass panic in the dark: On Bonfire Night and New Year’s Eve, wild birds across the country are startled into the air – in the dark, when they cannot see where they are going. Radar over Birmingham recorded bird flight activity well above normal across a four-hour period on Bonfire Night 2021, with birds flying markedly higher than usual.
- 10km displacement zones: For birds, the main harms are acute stress responses and mass temporary displacement. Radar studies in the Netherlands show birds taking flight up to 10 km from fireworks displays.
- Fatal collisions: More than 1,000 finches were found dead in a Bulgarian wood one New Year’s Day, over a kilometre from the display – panicked birds that flew into trees and each other.
- Winter survival at stake: In November, wild birds and mammals are conserving the energy reserves they need to get through the winter. Hours of panicked flight burn energy they cannot easily replace: GPS-tracked geese flew up to 16 km further than normal on New Year’s Eve and needed almost two weeks of extra feeding to recover.
- Overlooked mammals: Wild mammals are less studied, but if a loud bang frightens dogs and cats, there is every reason to expect similar responses in foxes, badgers, deer, and other species.
NOISE CUTS COULD REDUCE WILDLIFE TRAUMA BY 99.9%
Rather than the government’s proposed reduction from 120 to 110 decibels, the Center for Wild Animal Welfare is recommending a 90-decibel limit.
Sound fades with distance, and the area over which a firework disturbs wild animals shrinks with the square of the distance the sound carries. Each 10-decibel reduction cuts the disturbed area to roughly a tenth of the area.
So cutting a firework by 30 decibels, from 120 to 90 decibels, causes the disturbed area to fall to roughly a thousandth of its current size. That means a 90-decibel limit would leave the area affected roughly a hundred times smaller than under the government’s proposed 110-decibel limit, leading to significantly fewer wild animals being affected.
MINISTERS URGED TO ACT
Richard Parr MBE, Director of the Center for Wild Animal Welfare, said:
“Fireworks can be fun, but they also cause real suffering for wild animals.
“As well as scaring our pets, loud bangs can terrify wild animals like foxes, badgers, deer, and birds.”
“Ministers deserve credit for taking action. But the government’s proposed noise cuts don’t go far enough.
“They should go further and cut the maximum noise limit from 120 to 90 decibels. This would make the area disturbed by fireworks a thousand times smaller.
“This would be great news for our pets, and for millions of wild animals.”
